Refinitiv has ranked a number of financial institutions by combining data from group’s products and company results to create the Refinitiv Deals Intelligence Sustainable Finance League Tables
The group has leveraged its global deal and market volume analysis, covering 3.3 million transactions announced in 225 nations since the 1970s, to determine the firms driving the sustainable economy.
The tables capture sustainability-related deals including green bonds, social bonds and sustainability-linked bonds or loans, as well as issuance in equity markets and M&A deals.
Record issuance
In the first half of 2020, sustainable bond issuance totaled $194.5bn, up 47% from the same period in 2019 and more than double the value recorded in the first half of 2018, according to Refinitiv.
Furthermore, In the second quarter of 2020, $130.9bn of sustainable bonds were issued globally, more than double the value of the previous quarter and creating the highest quarterly total since Refinitiv records began in 2015.
Covid-19 prompted increased capital raisings by sovereigns, multilaterals and banks to aid recovery efforts; £44.8bn of social bonds were recorded globally for the first six months of the year – this is more than double the total raised for the whole of 2019.
Refinitiv also said in total the number of sustainable bonds in existence increased 94% compared to a year ago.
However, looking at equities, capital market issuance for sustainable companies totalled $4bn during the first half, a 21% decline for the same period the previous year and a two-year low, amid the increased volatility due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Refinitiv Deals Intelligence Sustainable Finance League Tables
Refinitiv said in an announcement these tables have been designed to help mainstream sustainability into financial markets by delivering meaningful data, and allows the investment banking community to more easily incorporate ESG factors by tracking and measuring activity in the sustainable finance space.
Leon Saunders Calvert (pictured), head of sustainable finance, Lipper and I&A Insights, Refinitiv, said: “Whilst the market continues to mature in its definitions of sustainable finance products and instruments, and Refinitiv will continue to influence and reflect this evolution in our criteria, with this release we have created a holistic view of new capital being issued to markets, which aggregates sustainable activity across asset classes, regions and industry verticals, and identifies the issuers, underwriters and advisors most heavily contributing to this financing.
“Extensive interaction with market participants and industry bodies informs the criteria we have created and starts to help answer the questions related to how much progress is being made against the capital requirements needed to finance a sustainable future.”
Below is a selection of the tables divided by asset class:
[table “1” could not be loaded /]To view the full tables click for Refinitiv’s H1 2020 Sustainable Finance Review.
